


a little broken, a little new (we are the impact and the glue)

by supernxva23



Series: more than meets the eye (breathe, carrie, breathe) [10]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Carrie and Julie have rekindled their friendship and its been 6 months, Carrie meets the ghosts, Carrie plays guitar, Friendship, Julie finally decides to tell carrie about her ghosts, Julie holding another lifers hand let's them see her ghosts, Julie unintentionally freaks carrie out, Post-Canon, also me: continues to write dialogue, carrie and the boys bond, god i love carrie wilson, i have been sitting on this fic for weeks and finally i typed it up, luke unintentionally helps carrie connect with her dad, me: i hate writing dialogue, pinky promises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:06:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27243922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supernxva23/pseuds/supernxva23
Summary: Carrie is still a little bit in disbelief, but she believes in Julie, and that’s enough.--Julie introduces Carrie to her gosts.
Relationships: Alex & Carrie Wilson, Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina & Carrie Wilson, Luke Patterson & Carrie Wilson, Reggie & Carrie Wilson
Series: more than meets the eye (breathe, carrie, breathe) [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1938343
Comments: 11
Kudos: 178





	1. Julie Spills The Beans

**Author's Note:**

> Six months after Julie & Carrie rekindle their friendship, Julie decides it's time to let her in on the secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Julie spills the beans.  
> Carrie freaks out for a second.  
> The boys are the boys.  
> happy reading!

Julie’s acting strange. But really, that’s nothing new. Julie is naturally an oddball, and Carrie loves that about her, but something feels off. She got a call from Julie an hour ago asking her to come over and that she really needs to talk to her.

Carrie’s immediate thought was, ‘oh god what did I do?“, knowing full well she hadn’t done anything horrible recently. But of course her brain still decides to run over every move she’s made with a fine-tooth comb and dug up any and all possible things she might’ve done to offend Julie. So now, a scared and nervous Carrie stands in front of Julie’s studio, trying to shake out some nerves so she doesn’t crumble under her self-induced stress.

She brought her hand up to knock, only for the door to open before she could make contact. Julie stands there, looking almost as anxious as Carrie feels. She opens the door for Carrie to come through. Carrie was close to shaking with anticipation as Julie turned to face her, wringing her hands together while avoiding Carrie’s eyes.

“What did I do?” Carrie spits out. Julie’s head snapped up, mouth opened quickly, immediately dispelling any thought Carrie had. “Nothing! No, no, no, you haven’t done anything!! I just really needed to to tell you something, like something BIG.” Julie admits. “Is it bad?” Carrie asks, still a little on edge. “No, it’s just, we’re friends again and I’ve kind of been keeping something from you and it’s started to eat at me for not telling you by now. It's just a lot and weird and I don't even know if you'll even believe me but I need to tell you so, here goes.” Julie takes a breath before starting again, “So, my band, the guys, they’re not really holograms…”

Carrie tilts her head, mimicking a confused puppy. “My band… they’re ghosts?” Julie says, sounding unsure. “Are you asking me if you’re band are ghosts or..?” Carrie asks her. “No! I’m telling you. My bandmates are ghosts.” Julie borderline yells, breathing heavily from her confession. “Oh.” Carrie replies, sitting down on the couch.

“Oh? Good oh or bad oh?” Julie questions. “Uhh… just, oh? I think.” Carrie answers. Julie moves to sit in front of her friend, waiting for the weirdness to process for Carrie. Carrie stares off for a second before meeting Julie’s gaze. She holds out her pinky to Julie.

Julie looks at the gesture, confused. Carrie speaks, voice steady and suddenly serious, “Swear that this is true, please Jules?”. Julie pauses before linking her own pinky with the pleading girl’s. As she does that, she also takes on a serious look while she begins to speak, “100%, care, I'm telling the truth. Do you believe me?” Julie asks. Carrie nods, putting her faith and trust into the pinky swear.

“Are they, like, here now?” she asks, looking around like she’d see something she hadn’t a minute ago. Julie smiles, “No, I made them wait outside. Do you, I mean, would you wanna meet them?” Julie asks. “Do they wanna meet me?” Carrie wonders out loud.

“I’ve kind of been talking about you a lot recently, so yeah, they really do.” Julie shyly tells her. “Like, now?” Carrie asks. Julie nods “It doesn’t have to be now, if you don’t want to! I just wanted to tell you about them, no pressure.” Julie stammers out. “Oh, now is okay, I think, I think I’m still processing this.” Carrie admits. Julie laughs a bit her friend taking this in stride, “Okay, one sec.” Julie beamed at Carrie before walking to the doors.

She knocked three times, smiling at air a second later. Julie walks toward Carrie saying, “Okay, so I’ve only done this with Carlos but hopefully it’ll work.” Julie reaches out her hand for Carrie to take. Carrie watches her friend’s hand shake a little as she holds hers out and intertwines her fingers with Julie’s. The two girls look at each other and Carrie hears a voice.

“Did it work?” the new voice asks. Carrie jumps and finds Julie’s bandmates standing feet in front of her. “Holy…” Carrie trails off, eyes roaming over the three boys. She looks down to her and Julie’s hands, then back up, testing this whole thing by letting go of her friend’s hand and watching as the guys disappear before her eyes.

She gasps and grabs Julie’s hand again. She’s not entirely sure why, but when come back into her view, a hysterical laugh escapes her mouth. Looking back at Julie, who seems a little frightened by Carrie’s emotional whiplash, says, “Ohhh-kay… guys?”

“Uhh yeah, hey, I’m Luke” “Reggie, hi!” “Alex! Hello…” each one says, probably anxious that they’re being seen sans music. “Hey ghosts?” Carrie questions. The boys nod and smile. “Okay, weird, but okay.” she confesses, checking for some added assurance from Julie, which she gets from a soft smile on her friend’s face.

She breathes deeply, trying to calm her racing heart and wandering mind. “So, it’s nice to meet you guys?” she says, scared she’ll say the wrong thing. The one in the beanie steps forward, “Yeah, we've actually been dying to meet you, you know, like officially.” he says with a grin of his face.

That surprises Carrie, “Really?” The flannel boy speaks up next, “Well, yeah!! Julie talks about you a lot ever since you guys like made up!” Julie’s hand squeezes Carrie’s as she whisper-yells at the boy, “Reggie!” “Sorry!” he replies. “You talk about me to your boy-band?” Carrie asks, amused. “Uhhhh…” Julie stammers.

Luke interrupts, “Who you calling boy-band?” Carrie sizes him up, “Well have you guys looked at yourselves? Your whole everything screams 90’s angst.” Julie snorts at the statement while the guys look slightly offended. “That wasn’t an insult, just a fact.” Carrie states. Julie stifles a giggle and the boys look more amused than offended. “So, you said you were dying to meet me officially. Have you been around me before?” she asks.

Luke and Reggie utter an “Uhhhh…”, while Alex actually speaks, “Yeah! I mean we’ve seen a couple of your performances.” Reggie jumps in, “You’re group is like really good, some would even say ‘dance worthy’!” he says, received a swift elbow to the side from Alex. “Oh! Well, as long as you guys weren’t like, spirit stalking me.” Carrie tells them. “Nah dude, boundaries, Julie drilled that into our heads.” Reggie said. Julie scoffs at that, “Wow, you guys actually listened to me for once? Wild.” she says, sarcasm spilling out.

“Ghosts… alright, what’s the story?” Carrie asks, which sparks the guys to herd a joined at the hands Julie and Carrie toward the couch. Taking spots in front of the girls, they begin to recount their journey. Carrie looks over to her friend, the boys oblivious as they bicker over details of their story, and Julie looks back at her. She squeezes Julie’s hand tightly as they look back to the rambunctious boys. Carrie is still a little bit in disbelief, but she believes in Julie, and that’s enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	2. Bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Carrie bonds.

Over the next few months, Carrie ends up bonding with the each of the guys. Carrie still can’t quite believe that she has three new friends, and ghost friends at that.

Alex talks to her about Dirty Candy, and how he can’t help but dance to their songs. She asks him about his history with drumming and they end up bonding over their anxious natures. Unlike Alex, whose face did nothing to hide anything he was feeling, Carrie had created a mask to hide hers. It was nice to have someone to talk to about this stuff, she hadn’t really had anyone like that in a while. And between in-depth talks about their own existential crisis, Carrie offers to let him join her in her dance studio sometime, because to her, there’s no better way to work through your feelings than letting them take over your body. Carrie doesn’t think she’s ever seen a grin so wide and genuine as the one that appears on his face when he hears her offer.

Carrie bonds with Reggie over country music, of all things. She’d never tell anyone, but she’s written a country song or two. Yeah, she deals primarily in bubblegum pop with Dirty Candy, but that doesn’t mean she’s judgmental on other genres. She shows Reggie some stuff she liked. Early Taylor Swift, obviously, and a little less full-on country, more so walking the line of country influenced. Brian Fallon, Ryan Adams, as well as offshoots, like indie and folk rock of the past 25 years. He shows her ‘Home Is Where My Horse Is’, nervous as he hands it over. Carrie finishes reading his lyrics and tells him that it’s amazing. Reggie smiles and a blush creeps up his face and he tells her she has to show him one of her songs sometime. Carrie initially wants tell him, ‘Nope, never’, but the genuine interest he shows has her saying, “Maybe, we’ll see, reg.” To which he only nods and asks her to make him a playlist of the artists she’s mentioned to him.

Unsurprisingly, it’s Luke that is the hardest to bond with. The don’t have much in common on the surface. With his muscle tees and rock star attitude clashing with her pop-persona and perfectionism. But when Carrie is waiting for Julie in the studio one day, she picks up the six string and starts strumming random notes. It’s been too long since she held a guitar, but remembers some random chords, obviously not a master at it, but there’s still a little muscle memory still there.

Her dad has been distant for years, but when she was younger he taught her how to play. She always cherished the times he’d sit with her and remembered the patience he had when she’d beat herself up over not being able to get a simple finger placement down. He was gentle and told her everything takes practice and focus and time. That no matter how long it’d take, he’d be there. She denied a guitar tutor, favoring having her dad teach her, because he was the best guitarist, according to her.

Now, of course, when she thinks she’s alone, another guitar starts playing, bringing her out of her memories. Carrie yelps, seeing that it’s Luke across from her, playing softly. He winces and apologizes to her. Carrie relaxes, getting a grip back on the instrument. “I didn’t know you played.” Luke says. “I haven’t in a long time, but yeah, I know a few of the basics.” she replies. “Why’d you stop? Playing I mean.” he asks. “Just got busy with school and DC, I didn’t really have the downtime to keep it up.” she confesses. “What about you? Did you learn professionally or by yourself?” she asks him, curious.

Luke laughs, “It’s all me, dude. Taught myself everything I know. You?” he questions. “My dad taught me when I was little. I wanted to be just like him and he played guitar. Then he got busy and I got busy, and I didn’t want to learn from anyone but him, so…” she trails off. “Oh, I’m sorry.” Luke said. “No, it’s okay, life gets in the way, oh uh, sorry.” she cringes at her words. Luke laughs loudly, “Nah, it’s okay, I’m used to the dead humor by now” he says. “That’s not very reassuring, but okay.” Carrie replies.

It’s quiet except for the strumming of their guitars, and then Luke speaks again, “If you, uh, I mean, I know you said you used to only want to learn from your dad but, if that ever changes, I could teach you some stuff, if you wanted to of course, no pressure, just an offer, you know?” he rambles until he can force his mouth to stop. Carrie smiles at this rare awkwardness from Mr. Confidence. “That's really cool of you to offer… I’d like that. Thanks Luke.” Luke lets out a breath and nods, “Wanna start now? Till Julie gets back?” he asks. “Yeah, sure. I’m a little rusty, so walk me through the basics?” she asks him. Luke grins, “Totally! So let’s start with…” Carrie nods along and mimics his hand placements and she remembers little by little as they make their way through.

When Julie walks in later, her two friends don’t notice her and the joyous smile she gets as she looks at the two. One buzzing with excitement, and the other, who Julie was surprised to see, with a guitar in her hands again. And in the following weeks, Julie is less and less shocked if she finds Carrie and Luke jamming away in the studio. And Julie definitely doesn’t expect them the rope her in to their lessons, shoving a guitar in her hands, and learning how to play. The three of them finding an ease and comfort in sitting together with guitars in their laps.

Carrie didn’t think she could ever really find interest in playing again, but she’s never been so happy to be wrong. The feeling she used to get looking at a guitar was replaced with affection and joy and an eagerness to learn a new song or even write a song on guitar. The newer songs she writes for herself, kept in a new notebook that sits on her nightstand.

One evening, her dad walks past the living room and does a double-take. Sitting there is Carrie with a guitar in her lap, absentmindedly playing. He tilts his head and walks in, asking her when she started to play again. A grin forms when she tells him, ‘recently’. Instead of meditating that afternoon, he finds himself grabbing his old guitar and takes a seat on the other couch, and starts to play an old song. Carrie smiles up at him like she did years ago and she watches for a minute before joining in and playing guitar with her dad. Both of them go to bed that night feeling lighter and more connected than they have in a long time.

The next time Carrie goes to jam with her friends, she takes advantage of Julie going back to the house to grab a sweater, and thanks Luke. Slightly confused what he's being thanked for, he looks up to see the serenity and peaceful look on Carrie’s face, he stops his questioning thoughts and simply replies, “You’re welcome, C.” Julie returns and their jam session continues.

Carrie’s got friends she never thought she’d have. But, god, she’s happy to have them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy i finally got this fic out.  
> not beta'd  
> fic title from North by Sleeping At Last  
> ...did ya like it?  
> all my love,  
> as always,
> 
> rose/nova


End file.
